Delivery and inventory verification is an important aspect of intrastate, interstate and international commerce. For instance, industries such as warehousing, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality rely heavily upon prompt and accurate transport and delivery of goods. As such, providing efficient delivery of goods and maintaining accurate records of shipments and inventory are crucial elements in the delivery process. Delivery and inventory verification systems are typically paper-based, often requiring manual processing of deliveries and on-site verification of available inventory. Sales personnel must usually return to a warehouse, loading station, or central office and complete the required delivery paperwork for processing. Following completion of the paperwork, a truck-build for a subsequent delivery must usually be constructed by next-shift employees, creating a significant time lapse between order acquisition and delivery of desired goods. Disadvantageously, delivery personnel may not be operating at maximum efficiency, due the numerous constraints of such a paper based system. Further, this operating inefficiency may prevent delivering parties from complying with supplier directives and mandates, resulting in customer dissatisfaction, and potential lost sales and revenue.
As technological advances are made in mobile communications technologies, it is often desirable for delivery personnel to transport communication and computing devices to and from delivery sites. These devices may aid in streamlining the delivery process by reducing access time to pertinent delivery information and reducing the amount of paperwork delivery personnel must transport. However, these portable communications and computing devices, that may be relatively expensive, may be subject to significant wear and tear due to their daily usage by delivery personnel. Additionally, a certain amount of paperwork is generally necessary for deliveries, whether required by a shipper, a delivery receiver, or other such mandate. Such paperwork is typically generated prior to dispatching a delivery. Disadvantageously, any changes needing to be made to delivery paperwork must be done manually, and may result in illegible modifications and inaccurate paperwork.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if a system and apparatus existed that provided mobile computing based sales force automation, providing efficient delivery of products and associated services to customers who have stringent requirements for their mobile computing systems.